Economy | No need to tinker with rates, says Pronab Sen

New Delhi: There is no need for Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to change key rates as of now, chief statistician of India Pronab Sen said on Thursday.

“The rise in inflation rate is mainly due to the low base effect. So there is no immediate need for the central bank to hike policy rates. I don’t think the RBI will touch key rates as of now,” Sen told reporters.

RBI will announce its mid-term review of 2009-10 annual policy statement on Tuesday.

In a separate development, HDFC Bank Ltd chief economist Abheek Barua said said RBI is likely to wait for a further rise in inflation before it raises its benchmark lending and borrowing rates around December or January.

Meanwhile, brokerage firm Nomura Holdings Inc. has said that RBI will raise the cash reserve ratio (CRR) around December and the key short-term lending and borrowing rates from January. It sees the CRR, repo and reverse repo rates raised by a total 125 basis points by the the fourth quarter of 2010.

--Newswire18, PTI & Reuters

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Finmin asked to rework disinvestment policy

New Delhi: The Union cabinet has asked the finance ministry to rework the road map for divestment in public sector companies, a senior government official said on Thursday.

“Coalition partners have raised certain objections and the policy is being fine-tuned to adjust their views,” the official said.The revised divestment policy is likely to be sent to the cabinet in a fortnight.